TV over the fireplace – some things to check

With the winter months and (ssshhh) Christmas around the corner, wouldn’t it be nice to have your TV mounted over the fireplace so you get the full benefit of your living room? Beware though, you need to make sure of a few things first otherwise you may regret the very idea. Getting it wrong could cost you the price of a new TV or maybe something more serious.

Do some research and testing to see if you can in fact, mount your TV over your fire safely. You need to find out if your chimney breast or wall gets too hot when the fire is at it’s maximum. Here’s how.

Above 90 degrees then find somewhere else for your TV

You may have an open fire. Nice. Before you do anything, build the fire up to the maximum that you believe it will ever be in time to come. Let the fire burn for around an hour, then take a temperature reading, using a thermometer, from the outside brick of your fireplace. If the temperature reading is above 90 degrees then DO NOT put your TV above it. It’s far to hot and will potentially damage your TV.

If the temperature stays below 90 degrees than it is fairly safe to mount your TV over the fireplace. Please be aware that this is a simple way to gauge if it’s safe to mount a TV over a hot fire and if you are in any doubt seek professional advise. By simply measuring the heat emitted by your fire could save both you and your TV.